I was talking to my sister Roberta the other day, and she reminded me of something she had told me years ago after she took part in a zen retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh in San Francisco. To make a long story short, she shared the lines that the monks and participants often chanted as they did their chores:
"Nothing to do.
Nowhere to go.
No reason to hurry.
No reason to worry."
Since Roberta's retreat decades ago, Nothing to do has taken root in song and in the literary world of mindfulness. And the verses are especially relevant now. In these lazy but compelling days of late May, when there is so much to do and so little motivation to do it, when spring fever contradicts necessity and practicality with delicious lethargy and the ultimate fantasy of fulfillment without pain, it is tempting, at least for me, to just sit and watch the trees get leaves and repeat the monkish chant:
"Nothing to do
Nowhere to go
No reason to hurry
No reason to worry."
This is Bill Felker with Poor Will’s Almanack. I’ll be back again next week with notes for the second week of early summer. In the meantime, remember, even though it may not be true:
"Nothing to do
Nowhere to go
No reason to hurry
No reason to worry."
Or maybe we could make it true, at least for a short while...
